The Innkeeper

Chapter 1806: You talk too slow

Lex raised an eyebrow out of curiosity, but before he could ask any questions, the chameleon clapped his hands, as if initiating something. Yet, leaving them in a somewhat awkward silence, nothing seemed to have happened.

In truth, though, throughout the Origin realm, countless entertainment companies across millions of galaxies immediately initiated an emergency broadcast. In fact, the select galaxies where the broadcast began were not random, but belonged to those who attended the Henali Convention.

These were not just any galaxies, but the ones where the influence of the Henali was the strongest, as ensured by the countless Henali agents below them – such as in the case of the several galaxies controlled by the Jotun Empire.

Despite the urgency with which the broadcast started, the process was actually seamless not only on the organizers’ end, but from the viewers as well. It was almost as if such a thing was not happening for the first time, and had actually happened before multiple times.

In fact, within seconds of the broadcast beginning, there were already trillions of viewers.

But the broadcast, instead of showing the Midnight Inn, seemed to be airing a prepared introduction about the challenge between the Cold Brood Empire and the Midnight Inn – a friendly competition but with real stakes.

Back at the Inn, entirely unaware of what was happening, Lex looked at the chameleon awkwardly. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly heard the familiar sound of a notification!

New Quest: The Midnight Inn has been publicly challenged, the stage has been set, and the performance is ready to air. Cooperate with the Cold Brood Empire to host the Dance Off to win the hearts and minds of all people. Also, win the competition.

Quest Reward: Subject to performance.

Quest Failure Punishment: Permanent 15% increase in all Midnight Inn operational prices including, but not limited to, services, goods sold, operations costs etc.

Remarks: With a face that has netted you 0 girlfriends, perhaps someone else should represent the Inn on Inter-galactic television!

New Notification: The Cold Brood Empire is seeking permission for temporary broadcasting rights across the Origin realm of the ’Dance Off’. Grant broadcasting rights? Y/N.

Lex granted the permission, and suddenly dozens of drones appeared all around the stage, recording him and the chameleon. He could not help but rub his chin as he observed them and made comparisons. It seemed that although KD had a system as well, the way it operated was much more grounded in reality than his own system. Then again, it only made sense.

“Due to… the difference in… the flow of time…”

“Dude, it’s not like I have a short attention span or something, but the way you talk is way too slow and irritating,” interrupted Lex, and shot a beam out of his finger at the chameleon.

The mere soul signature that was controlling the chameleon’s spirit suddenly received a huge boost, as if strengthened not only innately, but also increasing the ease with which it could influence the chameleon.

Controlling an Immortal’s body, even with the immortal consent, was not an easy task – especially since it had to be done from across a realm. The fact that Lex was able to augment it so easily was in equal parts impressive and intimidating.

“Testing, testing, one two three… Oh my, now this really is impressive. The lag seems to have disappeared by a lot,” said the chameleon, looking at Lex in surprise.

“Yes, I’m sure, now please, continue with what you were saying,” Lex said, observing his surroundings. It seemed that other than the appearance of the drones, nothing else seemed to have changed.

Despite the newfound fluidity in controlling the body, the chameleon paused for a few seconds before speaking.

“Due to the difference in the flow of time between the Midnight Inn and the Origin realm we cannot have the show stream live. Moreover, the voting period between each round needs to be lengthened to a minimum of quadruple the duration of the performances so that the viewers have enough time to view each performance, and spend a little time deliberating before they can vote.”

The chameleon paused after saying all that, though Lex now understood the actual reason for the pauses and broken speech. KD’s soul wasn’t really in the Inn, so he must be directing everything from the Origin realm. Perhaps he isn’t able to react according to the appropriate speed of the Midnight Realms flow of time, so after every few sentences there is a small delay until KD sent new instructions. As if to emphasise Lex’s realization, the chameleon continued to speak.

“To give you enough time to prepare, the show will begin in one hour with the group performance. A designated stage assistant will be assigned to whom you can share any requirements of your performance with, including music, props or performance aids. To give you some idea of what we will be doing, so you have a frame of reference, we will be sending five performers for the group dance.”

Lex simply nodded.

“Alright then, see you in an hour,” he said, before teleporting away. Since this was an event being broadcast across the Origin realm, there was no reason the guests at the Inn should miss out.

Lex started a whole new event centered around the dance off, and spent 1000 MT on security, spending only a small amount of money on glamorising the event.

He had to make sure that the dance off wasn’t just a distraction for something else, in which case hiring more security was the best way to make sure nothing went amiss.

At the same time, he went back to the private room where Luthor and the rest had gathered, and brought Z back as well.

“Alright so, who among you know how to dance? Raise your hands,” Lex asked, skipping the small talk and getting right to the thick of the matter. “We have one hour to plan out a dance routine, and we can’t afford to lose.”

Z shook his head in the back.

“Velma is going to be so pissed that she missed this,” he muttered.